Healthy Wanderlei Silva Will Co-Headline UFC 167 Against Chael Sonnen

UFC president Dana White made his debut on “Fox Sports Live” on Wednesday, and he came out firing. Shortly after announcing Lyoto Machida will drop to middleweight to fight Tim Kennedy, White said Chael Sonnen will be granted his wish and get a scrap against Wanderlei Silva (pictured).

However, the caveat is Silva must be healthy. If “The Axe Murderer” is, the bitter rivals will co-headline UFC 167.

After submitting former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Silva’s former Chute Boxe teammate, this past Saturday, Sonnen flipped on his WWE switch and went on an extended rant directed at Silva.

“Right here on the UFC’s new home, Fox Sports 1, Wanderlei Silva, 6 feet tall and 205 pounds, boy, until I met you, I didn’t know they could stack crap that high,” Sonnen stated during his in-Octagon interview. “Wanderlei Silva, three months, you and the bad guy!”

The win marked Sonnen’s first in three outings, but the defeats during that span came against then-middleweight champ Anderson Silva and reigning light heavyweight king Jon Jones, arguably the game’s top two fighters.

Silva, meanwhile, has dropped seven of his past 11 scraps. However, the 37-year-old turned back the hands of time in March to knockout – and subsequently retire – Brian Stann.

White did not say what injury would prevent Silva from making the appointment, nor which weight class the bout will take place.